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The Changing Face of the Office
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Contrary to popular belief, the Covid pandemic has not destroyed real estate as an investment class; rather it has accelerated the rate at which it was already evolving. Long leases of ten years or more were already becoming increasingly rare in the office sector and shorter term, more flexible leasing arrangements becoming commonplace, driven largely by changes in the requirements of occupiers. No longer did they need permanent, exclusive space (with an associated fixed large overhead). Staff were already starting to work from home as millennials, with their more rounded perspective on life, filtered through to senior positions in the workforce. Workplaces had to become more than just a place you go to work: employees wanted space to do yoga in their lunch hour, somewhere to put a folding bike and have a shower, somewhere to meet, eat and chat with colleagues. But how does this relate to productivity? The answer lies in having a happy, healthy, engaged and well-equipped workforce. These changes were not being brought in due to altruism on the part of landowners or employers; they merely worked out that in order to attract talent and maximise productivity, they had to offer more. The return to work following the pandemic therefore presents an opportunity both for employers and landlords to address the productivity gap and welcome back a happy, healthy and motivated workforce to a working environment that better promotes productivity. But how can the changes that were already taking place be built upon in order to create a more productive workforce? Here are a few suggestions:
These measures will not be cheap, and that will be enough to put off many employers and landlords. However, fail to address these issues and you risk being left behind. Valuations of buildings will no doubt start to factor these matters into their mysterious equations at some point in the not too distant future and occupiers looking for space will increasingly demand that premises provide them. At the start of the pandemic, you might have been forgiven for thinking that people would go back to basics and that all the recent changes in working practices and policies would go out of the window. In fact, the pandemic has only hastened the advance of those changes. Employers and landlords will now need to make sure that they address these issues quickly or risk becoming obsolete. Might we then be able to plug the productivity gap?
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